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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Hiding Out in a Recording Studio

A friend, Ivan from Silent Scenery has kindly invited me to come into their newly setup recording studio to just hang out and chill. They named the place "Studiohive". The band was doing some recording works for their upcoming album, which would sound totally awesome, and I will be blogging more about that soon. Arriving at the place, I was surprised to find the recording studio seemed more like a living room of some sort, with really cozy set up and dim ambient lighting. Perfect place to just lay around and let yourself drown away from the world.

The room was sound proofed (to a certain degree), and for some weird reasons the reception of my phone was really poor in there. Not being able to connect to the outside world somehow made the evening spent there a cut-off from everywhere else. It was like a hide-out to just forget everything else and just be in there, with some really cool people who are serious about music and art. I really need this temporary get-away, life has been unexpectedly hectic and stressful lately, I just want to leave everything behind and just reorganize my priorities, in a place where I am new to and not remind me of anything familiar.

Of course I brought my camera along and as the drum beats frantically (they were recording drums) I cannot be helped but being propagated to making my fingers start snapping images, randomly around the studio. The lighting was really, really dim, uneven, and usually described as undesirable, but screw all that, and just let the fingers start clicking. Sometimes, we just have to look beyond the technicalities, and stop complaining about what the camera can or cannot do, and just concentrate on making photographs happen. Yes, the images may not come out technically perfect, but really, a photograph is still a photograph, it does not necessarily have to be perfect. Imperfections define who we are as humans, and if we can show imperfections in a beautiful manner, that itself is art.

Seikan the drummer tuning the drum.

Ivan, from Silent Scenery

I was not the only visitor to the studio, there were a few other friends, and the whole lot decided to go have Japanese food for dinner at the nearby Japanese Club (JC), which was situated at Taman Seputeh, adjacent to the Mid Valley City. I was told by Seikan (the half-Japanese drummer) that the place serves really authentic Japanese food, one of the best around in the city, and a notch or two on top of anything you can find commercially out there. To my surprise the pricing of the food there was quite reasonable.

Upon arrival we were given cold drenched tower, which was something normal Malaysian restaurants do not do. Then I decided to quench my cravings for salmon sashimi, and ordered one plate on top of a Dinner Set of Fried Soba noodles served with Katsu Chicken, Cawan Mushi and Miso Soup.

It was a very filling dinner, and the food was awesome !!

Kit, from Silent Scenery, with his Holga !! Musicians make great photographers, agreed?

Wet towel given upon arrival, great service indeed.

Salmon Sashimi !!! Slurp...

My dinner set

After dinner, we headed back to the studio as the Silent Scenery get more recordings done. It was my first time seeing a real recording taking place, and gosh it was not easy. A lot of trials and massive amount of effort were being put in to achieving that perfect musical outcome, but I guess that is the general trait that defines all sort of success: hard work and determination. The Silent Scenery has indeed come a long way since their first EP two years ago, and I am really excited to see the direction that they are heading, and all the great things that are awaiting them.

The group: Silent Scenery + supporters !!!

View of Mid Valley city from Japanese Club, Taman Seputeh.

Music is an important inspiration for me, and my photography work. It keeps me going and it keeps me in my place. Being connected to a local talent is something I really treasure, and I sure hope all the best for Silent Scenery. Be assured that you will be seeing a lot more of this awesome band on my blog. If you have not heard of the band, please go to theirFacebook page here. Show some love yo !!

5 comments
:

Hi, Robin! Are you post-processing to get this very contrasty look? I'm thinking these pictures would be better without blown highlights and blocked shadows. :) Noise is almost never an issue, and I wouldn't worry about it one minute, but higlight retention is very important for me.